Hay-tedder.



No. 738,284. I PATBNTED SEPT. s, 1 03.

s. BORTREE. HAY TBDDER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. '20. 1903.

N0 MODEL.

THE Nuams wsrzas co, PNOTOJITMQ. WASHWGYDN u UNITED STATES Patented September 8, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

HAY-TEDDER.

S?ECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 738,284, dated September 8, 1903. Application filed April 20, 1903. Serial No. 153,370. (No model.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS S. BORTREE, a citizen of the United States, residing at 440 Hicks street, in the city of Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hay-Tedders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a hay-tedder, and

has for its object to provide an implement of the kind adapted to be drawn by horse-power whereby mown grass or the like in position as cut by a scythe or mowing-machine is turned over and scattered over the ground in condition for more rapid and even sun-curing.

A further object is to provide a machine of the kind in which the tedder-forks are each adapted to be automatically and individually raised to pass over obstacles in its path.

I accomplish these objects by the novel construction and combination of parts hereinafter described, and illustrated in the drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an isometric view of my tedder with a reduced number of tedder-forks and operating-cams for greater clearness of illustration. Fig. 2 is a view showing a cam and tedder-tooth in a side elevation in which the forward and the rear positions of the tooth are indicated by the dotted line. Fig. 3 is a like View showing a tedder-tooth raised to travel over an obstruction. spring-arm. Fig. 5 is a part section and part elevation of the tine-holder, and Fig. 6 is a top plan View of the gearing with the loose gear thrown out of mesh.

In the drawings, 1 represents the frame of the tedder, which is provided with. the bearings 2, in which is mounted the axle 3, having the wheels 4, one of which is fixed on the axle and the other revoluble thereon. The frame 1 is also provided with the thills 5 for hitching a horse to the wheel-base thus constructed.

Oppositely upon the sides (3 of the frame 1 there are located the brackets 7 and 7 which are provided near their tops with the bearings 8, in which is rotatably mounted the shaft 9, upon which at regular intervals of its length are fixedly mounted the spider-cams 10, the cams being arranged with the wiperarms 11 set spirally around the shaft from one end toward the other.

Fi 4c is a view of the,

To rotate the cam-shaft 9, it is provided with the gear-wheel 12, mounted thereon at one end adjacent to the bracket 7 and opposite thereto on the axle 3 there is provided the gear-wheel 13 of increased diameter.

Bracket 7 is also provided with the stud-journal 14, upon which is pivotally mounted the idler gear-Wheel15 of less diameter than wheel 13 and greater diameter than wheel 12 and intermeshing with both, whereby the shaft 9 is revolved at greater speed than the axle 3.

Oppositely upon the sides 6 of the frame 1 there are also provided the bearings 16, in which is rotatably mounted the shaft 17, upon one end of which is mounted the ratchetwheel 18, having in engagement therewith the pawl 19, pivotally mounted by the other end on the side bar 6 of frame 1.

represents tedder-forks, the body or handle portions 21-of which are each preferably formed of a fiat spring-bar provided with the yoke 22, formed by providing the body with the curve 23, forming one-half the yoke and attaching to the body by suitable fastenings the plate 24, having a curve complementary to the curve 23 of the body, thereby forming elongated yokes, having semicircular ends of a diameter to receive and fit loosely over the shaft 1 7, upon which the tedder-forks are suspended by their .yokesone opposite each spider-cam. The upper end portion 25 of the fork-body 21 is bent forward of the shaft 17 at a suitable angle to be engaged by the wiperarms of the spider-cam as they are revolved. Upon the lower end of the fork-body is clamped a fork-head 26,- comprising a pair of clamp plates 27, having formed in their clamping-faces the central complementary grooves 28 to receive the fork-body and the smaller grooves 29 on opposite sides of the central grooves to receive the rearwardlycurved fork-tines 30. The clamp-plates are also provided with suitable bolt-holes coincident through the plates and the fork-body, through which are inserted the nut-bolts 31, by which the plates are clamped together and compressed on the tines, thereby securing the assembled parts. By this construction of the fork-head it is manifest that the tines may be adjusted to lengthen or shorten the fork. Each tedder-fork is provided with a spring.

ICO

sides of the yoke 22, with the ends inserted in suitable orifices in the shaft to secure the arm thereto. The outer looped end 3% of the arm is curved forward and'around the front side of the fork-body, and the coils of the arm are arranged to normallyhold the fork-body in a rearwardly-inclined position against the rear bar 35 of the frame 1 as a back-stop.

Thus constructed and arranged, with the coils of the spring-arms 31 adjusted at a suitable uniform tension by the ratchet-wheel 18, as the machine is pulled forward over the ground the axle 3 is revolved by the fixed wheel 4, by means of which the cam-shaft 9 is rotated at an increased speed in the same direction by the gear-train connecting the axle and the shaft, whereby the wiper-arms ll of the spider-cams are successively brought into engagement with the forwardly-inclined upper end portions 25 of the forks, which are forced back ward, thereby throwing the bodies of the forks forward until the arms 25 are released, when the spring-arms throw them back to their normal position of rest against the stop-bar 35. As the forks are forced for ward by the Wipers the curve of the tines permits them to pass freely over the cut hay without disturbing it; but when released, as the tines are thrown rearward in the arc of their movement in their lowest position, their points run under the mown grass and carry it backward and upward until the spring action of the fork-body on striking against the rear stop-bar tosses and scatters the hay from the end of thefork. In the event that in the forward movement any individual fork encounters an object projecting above the surface the combined action of the wiper-arm,

the resistance of the object, and the forward movement of the machine causes the fork to rise upward over it,-the length of the yoke 22 being adapted to allow the fork to be raised high enough to allow the wiper-arm to pass the arm 25 of the fork, after which the springarm will return the fork to its normal position, the weight of the fork being sufficient to cause it to descend again during such movement.

The idler gear-wheel 15 is provided withthe shifting-lever 36, which is pivoted to standard 37 on the frame 1 and bifurcated for engagement with the sides of the wheel, which is adapted to be shifted on the stud-journal 14: into and out of engagement with the wheels 12 and 13 by the lever 36, which is angled and extended within convenient reach of the driver, who can with it set in motion or stop the operation of the cam-shaft, as desired.

By arranging the several spider-cams on the cam-shaft so that the wiper-arms are set in as many spiral series from one end to the other of the shaft as there are arms on a spider-cam the forks are operated successively from left to right or right to left, according as the spirals are formed, as many times during a single revolution of the cam-shaft as there are wiper-arms on a spider-cam.

\Vhat I claim to be new is 1. In a hay-tedder, the combination with a wheel-base, of a cam-shaft journaled thereon and adapted to be rotated by the movement of the base, spider-cams mounted on the camshaft, a fork-shaft mounted on the base parallel with the cam-shaft, on a lower horizontal plane, forks pivotally mounted by yokes on the fork-shaft opposite the spider-cams havin g upper end portions projecting in the planes of revolution of the cams, spring-arms mounted on the forkshaft, embracing the forks and adapted to yieldingly hold them norm ally in clined rearward against a common stop.

2. In a hay-tedder the combination with a wheel-base having a cam-shaft journaled horizontally thereon and adapted to be rotated by the movement of the base, of spidercams mounted on the cam-shaft, a fork-shaft mounted on the base parallel with the camshaft in a lower plane, forks pivotally mounted by stem-yokes on the fork-shaft opposite the spide r-cams and having bent end portions above the yokes projecting in the paths of the cams, a loop-arm for each fork formed of a single wire bent to form a central loop and having its outer end portions formed into involute springs around the fork-shaft and secured thereto on opposite sides of the forkyoke with the loop engaging the front side of the fork-stem and adapted to yieldingly hold the fork normally inclined rearward against a common stop for all the forks and to return the fork thereto when pushed forward and released by a cam.

In a hay-tedder the combination with a wheelbase having a cam-shaft journaled horizontally thereon and adapted to be rotated by the movement of the base, of spidercams mounted on the cam-shaft, a fork-shaft mounted on the base parallel with the camshaft in a lower plane, forks pivotally mounted by stem-yokes on the fork-shaft opposite the spider-cams and having bent end portions above the yokes projecting in the paths of the cams, a loop-arm for each fork formed of a single wire bent to form a central loop and having its outer end portions formed into involute springs around the fork-shaft and secured thereto on opposite sides of the forkyoke with the loop engaging the front side of the fork-stem and adapted to yieldingly hold the fork normally inclined rearward against a common stop for all the forks and to return the fork thereto when pushed forward and released by a cam, and means to uniformly adjust the tension of the springs.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 17th day of April, A. D. 1903.

LOUIS S. BORTREE.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM H. Moon, LAURA YOUNGS. 

